'There are a lot of reasons not to elect me'
By: Alexander Burns September 23, 2011 07:31 AM EST

The DNC has assembled a greatest-hits reel from last night’s debate, highlighting the GOP field’s support for cutting swing voter-friendly federal agencies like the Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency and more.

The money quote comes from Mitt Romney, who said in the debate: “There are a lot of reasons not to elect me – lot of reasons not to elect other people on this stage.”

“We couldn’t agree more,” the DNC ad answers.

Romney backers recognized last night that that was an off moment for the former governor. Missouri Sen. Jim Talent, appearing in the spin room for Romney, said he wished his candidate had chosen different words but “you’re gonna have a clunker once in a while.”

It’s easy to imagine this particular clunker ending up in Democratic ads next year.

The up side for Romney, in the DNC video, is that he makes relatively few appearances in the montage of candidates seeking to strip back federal programs general election voters like, since he has stayed pretty vague in identifying which government services he wants to cut.